Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a stunning Metroidvania that can be pretty grueling. You can see its inspirations of the likes of a Hollow Knight or a Blasphemous shine through its gameplay and world design.
What Ender Lilies offers is a fascinating world that rewards its players with exploration and patience. There are many systems in place, such as a leveling system, abilities, upgrades, and more, which means it may be easy to be overwhelmed from the jump. However, much like other games of this ilk, all it takes is a push in the right direction to overcome those obstacles.
Updated July 16, 2021 by Geoffrey Martin: Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights received its full release in June 2021, bringing plenty of new players to this fantastic game. Ender Lilies explores a mysterious and broken kingdom as well as the nightmarish aberrations that stalk its lands. This game is equal parts beautiful and melancholic. New players jumping into Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights might not know how to start this game since death can come swiftly and often. Fortunately, the game does ease you into its mechanics and systems but, along with the tips already included in this article, there are a number of other things beginners should know before diving into this harrowing journey.
14 You'll Need To Practice
It might take some time to get accustomed to the game's controls, mechanics, and overall gameplay in the early going of ENDER LILIES. Take no shame in practicing on the weaker enemies at the start.
It will be wise to familiarise yourself with the game's control layout before encountering the first boss. Learning how to evade, efficiently attack, and pace yourself are core fundamentals of the game and will help you tremendously once fully grasped. This may seem like a grimdark, real-time version of Child of Light, but it is far from that.
13 Learn To Read The Map Icons
The Ender Lilies map can seem rather useless at first, but it provides a lot of helpful information. However, keep in mind that you will not get to fill in the entire map just yet as the game is still in Early Access. But if the individual areas are highlighted yellow, that means that part of the map is 100% complete. You did all you can do in that area, save for maybe finding an entry into a new location.
The green diamonds indicate a Restore Point, where you can rest, enhance your gear, and equip different Spirits. Finally, the red markers indicate pathways to a new area in the world that you have not yet discovered. The red dot is where the entrance will be in the actual game world, so use them as a hint for where to look for the next area. Again, many places are not available yet in Ender Lilies, but there is quite a bit here to explore!
12 Using Ranged Attacks
There are many ways to take on enemies in Ender Lilies, but using ranged attacks may be the most satisfying, mainly because you can demolish some of the game's most vile creatures with it. "Ranged Filth" has been a term thrown around in games for ages at this point, and Ender Lilies sort of lets you lean into it as much as you want.
With a handful of range Spirits, you will be able to take advantage of some of the enemies' AI and never have to deal with them in a severe way ever again. You can summon in a Crow that will shoot orbs of energy at any enemy it sees or throw a vile slug-like creature at enemies from afar. It is a fun way to get past some parts of the game. Be warned, however, because bosses will not tolerate it as much.
11 Try Out Various Builds
Rather than having weapons, Ender Lilies opts for an ability-based battle system that focuses on a build-like system as a result. These abilities come in the form of Spirits, which you will earn from killing bosses and mini-bosses found throughout the world of Ender Lilies. This is similar to Guardian spirits in Nioh 2.
Spirits will give you things like a heavy attack with a giant hammer, a tornado that shreds the enemy apart, or a companion crow that follows you and shoots at any enemy in the area. The Spirits serve a massive role in Ender Lilies and are a nice break from the traditional weapon system in most games.
10 The Game Rewards Exploration
Exploring the dense, gorgeous world of Ender Lilies is essential to overcoming the nasty creatures that stand in your way. In traditional Metroidvania fashion, you will not be able to do everything from the start and will have to revisit areas with newly obtained abilities to progress. In Ender Lilies, you will find a plethora of things meticulously tucked away in the world.
These things can range from permanent health upgrades, additional rune slots, runes themselves, or even passive abilities like more potent healing. You must explore every nook and canny in Ender Lilies and revisit areas occasionally to take advantage of what the game has to offer and also make the game a tad more manageable in the process.
9 Always Read Notes And Objects
Tied to exploration are the plethora of notes, scrawlings, and environmental objects to read over for more nuanced narrative details that reveal more about the Blighted and its ramifications. Often when starting a new game, you might want to just get right into the thick of the action and try out your new abilities.
However, if you want to truly get sucked into this dark fantasy tale, it's advisable to seek out each piece of lore that comes in the form of notes or tablets strewn about the world.
8 Dying Isn't Punishing
Even with Ender Lilies' heavy inspiration from Hollow Knight and even Blasphemous to some extent, it never goes out of its way to punish you whenever you make a fatal mistake. Dying in Ender Lilies will not leave behind your currency and make you fight your way back to it. Pretty much nothing happens whenever you die. At least not in this Early Access demonstration.
You keep the experience you earned and the items you have gathered. You only wake up at the last spot you rested at and have to fight through everything you just killed but without the burden of retrieving everything you spent the previous hour hoarding. This system is rather refreshing, and it makes the game feel a lot more welcoming. So, don't sweat dying!
7 Get Familiar With Attack Patterns
Much like the Soulsborne titles, Hollow Knight, and many other games of this genre, you will be studying the enemy's attack patterns to the point where they become second nature. Since you will see many of the same enemies throughout this build of the game, you will have to learn how they operate and react to you.
Learning their patterns and know when to land an attack, as well as back off, is crucial in Ender Lilies. Once this becomes second nature, you will be blowing past enemies like nothing!
6 Get Used To Farming
There are currently 100 levels in Ender Lilies, and it will take quite some time to achieve the max level. However, you do not want to be down on farming levels if you find yourself in a bind. Leveling up will increase your base stats slightly, meaning you will have more health, attack power, and Spirit capacity each time you level up.
If you seem to get stuck in a tricky spot, try grinding for a bit. Since you have nothing to lose if you were to happen to get slain by an enemy, you can essentially grow stronger before heading back on the critical path. There's no shame in farming!
5 Break Environmental Objects
The world of Land's End that Lily explores is filled with breakable environmental objects such as crates and barrels. Most people are accustomed to breaking objects in games since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time wisely taught us to break jars to get rupees. While the items don't come as swiftly or abundantly in Ender Lilies, there are still some surprises to be discovered.
One of the best things you can find from breakable objects is amulet fragments that enhance your health or make you stronger overall.
4 Upgrades & Spirit Enhancements
Upgrading your Spirits may be the most critical thing you can do in Ender Lilies, and you should not take it lightly. As touched on earlier, there are many Spirits in Ender Lilies and many ways to build different load-outs that match your playstyle. Once you have your core-build, start upgrading your Spirits!
Enhancing your Spirits will allow them to do more base damage and even have faster cooldown speeds. If you can, hold off on upgrading anything right away until you are sure you have what fits your style. Waisting upgrade materials on something you will never use does not feel great and will get you nowhere.
3 Use Healing Prayers Sparingly
Ender Lilies uses a healing system similar to Dark Souls whereby you have a specific amount that can only be refilled once at a safe spot, in this case, called respites. At the start of your journey, you have three healing prayers that can be used at the press of a button. However, they often don't heal you all the way and thus need to be used only when necessary.
Beginners to this game need to remember that healing can't be done all of the time. Sure you might stumble across a healing flower that refills one of your prayers, but beyond that, they should be used infrequently.
2 Always Know Where Respites Are
In Ender Lilies, safe zones are called respites and while their functions are typically the same, they often come in different forms such as a bench or a bed. First and foremost, respites are used to heal, refill healing prayers, and save your progress. Respites are also used to fast travel and upgrade Lily as the game continues forward.
While the map in Ender Lilies is very handy and does mark some important information, it's a good idea to get familiar with where each respite is in relativity to other environmental landmarks so you always know where to go heal and save.
1 Remember: Have Patience With Yourself And The Game
In any game that can be punishing if you make a simple mistake, patience is the thing that will help you emerge the victor. It can be hard to keep calm if you are getting bodied by the same enemy time after time, but getting angry will only make matters worse. Luckily, there are many moments in Ender Lilies where you can catch your breath, take in the stunning scenery, and regain focus for the upcoming encounters.
If a boss is giving you trouble, you can typically take another route that will lead to a whole new area. Doing that will enable you to find valuable loot, level up, and clear your head. Constantly throwing yourself at a boss, or a formidable enemy, will likely not end well. Just have patience, in general, with Ender Lilies, and you will see a vast improvement in your gameplay!